The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it hopes that Taiwanese celebrities who reposted Chinese state media articles celebrating the National Day of the People’s Republic of China would consider public perceptions in Taiwan.
Yesterday, China’s National Day, several Taiwanese celebrities reposted articles from Chinese state media on their personal Sina Weibo profiles about the holiday, including Golden Horse Award-winning actor Wu Kang-ren (吳慷仁), Cyndi Wang (王心凌), Ouyang Didi (歐陽娣娣), Wang Leehom (王力宏) and others.
Artist Jam Hsiao (蕭敬騰) on Monday night performed in a National Day program on China Central Television, with the state media channel calling him an artist from “Taiwan, China.”
Photo: Tapei Times file and screen grab from Sina Weibo
Wu, who on Monday announced he had signed to a new Chinese management company, yesterday reposted a message from the state-run People’s Daily on his Sina Weibo account, adding: “Congratulations to Beautiful China.”
The MAC said in a statement that although entertainers and celebrities might feel pressure from the Chinese Communist Party to make political statements around holidays, it hoped that they would consider public sentiment in Taiwan and appreciate the nation’s hard-won democratic freedoms.
Separately, the council yesterday again asked Taiwanese to be cautious when traveling to China, Hong Kong or Macau, after two people were sentenced to prison under Hong Kong’s National Security Law.
Hong Konger Chiu Kai-pong (諸啟邦), 27, was sentenced to 14 months on Sept. 16 for “performing acts with seditious intent” for wearing a T-shirt with the words “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times” and a yellow mask with the letters “FDNOL,” short for “five demands, not one less” on June 12, the anniversary of clashes between police and protesters during 2019’s democracy protests.
Chung Man-kit (鍾文傑), 29, was sentenced to 10 months for writing “seditious” graffiti on bus seats.
The MAC said it wished to remind Taiwanese that as of June, a travel advisory for China, Hong Kong and Macau was elevated to “orange,” its second-highest alert.
The council’s Web site has up-to-date information on what might be considered a crime that could lead to prosecution in China, as well as other travel advisories, it said.
CARGO LOSS: About 50 containers at the stern of the ‘Ever Lunar’ cargo ship went overboard, prompting the temporary closure of the port and disrupting operations Evergreen Marine Corp, Taiwan’s largest container shipper, yesterday said that all crew members aboard the Ever Lunar (長月) were safe after dozens of containers fell overboard off the coast of Peru the previous day. The incident occurred at 9:40am on Friday as the Ever Lunar was anchored and waiting to enter the Port of Callao when it suddenly experienced severe rolling, Evergreen said in a statement. The rolling, which caused the containers to fall, might have been caused by factors including a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Russia, poor winter sea conditions in South America or a sudden influx of waves,
The Ministry of Culture yesterday officially launched the “We TAIWAN” cultural program on Osaka’s Nakanoshima sandbank, with the program’s mascot receiving overwhelming popularity. The cultural program, which runs from Aug. 2 to 20, was designed to partner with and capitalize on the 2025 World Expo that is being held in Osaka, Japan, from April 13 to Oct. 13, the ministry said. On the first day of the cultural program, its mascot, a green creature named “a-We,” proved to be extremely popular, as its merch was immediately in high demand. Long lines formed yesterday for the opening
The Taipei Summer Festival is to begin tomorrow at Dadaocheng Wharf (大稻埕), featuring four themed firework shows and five live music performances throughout the month, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said today. The festival in the city’s Datong District (大同) is to run until Aug. 30, holding firework displays on Wednesdays and the final Saturday of the event. The first show is scheduled for tomorrow, followed by Aug. 13, 20 and 30. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Disney Pixar's movie Toy Story, the festival has partnered with Walt Disney Co (Taiwan) to host a special themed area on
BE CAREFUL: The virus rarely causes severe illness or death, but newborns, older people and those with medical conditions are at risk of more severe illness As more than 7,000 cases of chikungunya fever have been reported in China’s Guangdong Province this year, including 2,892 new cases last week, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday said it is monitoring the situation and considering raising the travel notice level, which might be announced today. The CDC issued a level 1 travel notice, or “watch,” for Guangdong Province on July 22, citing an outbreak in Foshan, a manufacturing hub in the south of the province, that was reported early last month. Between July 27 and Saturday, the province reported 2,892 new cases of chikungunya, reaching a total of 7,716
RSS